How to Increase Engagement on Your Holiday Content

Holidays provide a great opportunity to create timely, interactive social media content for your brand – whether it’s an occasion as significant as Christmas or a weekly social media holiday such as #NationalPancakeDay.

What steps should you take if you aren’t seeing strong engagement on your seasonal posts & Stories? Social media engagement measures how many people are interacting with your brand on a daily basis. Working to increase engagement should be a priority for your marketing strategy – it has numerous benefits for brands, including improving ROI, as well as boosting brand awareness.

Here are 3 ways to elevate engagement on your Instagram holiday content, year-round:

1. Use the Right Holiday Hashtags! 

Hashtags are an invaluable tool for reaching new audiences and increasing engagement. If you aren’t using the right hashtags, your content will be less discoverable – which automatically means less interactions! Focus on using the right holiday hashtags so that your audience will easily find the seasonal content you’re sharing. For practical tips on how to build a killer Instagram hashtag strategy, check out our blog post here.

Here are 15 hashtags we recommend incorporating into your Christmas 2019 holiday content (listed by volume of Instagram hashtag usage, from largest to smallest):

#Christmas

#Xmas

#ChristmasTree

#HappyHolidays

#ChristmasTime

#ChristmasDecor

#ChristmasGifts

#ChristmasCountdown

#Christmas2019

#Christmas

#ChristmasTime

#ChristmasGiftIdeas

#ChristmasTree

#ChristmasPhotoshoot

#ChristmasDecorating

2. Best Times to Post

If you’re using a Business Account on Instagram (which we highly recommend utilizing for your brand!) tap Insights > Audience > Followers. There, you can analyze both Hours (the average times your followers are on Instagram on a typical day) & Days (the days of the week when your followers are the most active). Schedule your remaining content this month for the hours & days in which your audience is most active.

instagram social media marketing instagram social media marketing

For major holidays (when your audience will likely be on vacation), schedule your content for when you generally would on the weekend, since your audience will be off and scrolling throughout the break. ⁠

3. Last Minute Content Ideas 

Here are a few engagement-inducing content ideas that you can plan & post before Christmas kicks off. While these examples are Christmas focused, they can inspire your content planning year-round:

  • Host a Giveaway! According to research from SocialBakers, there was a significant increase in giveaways last holiday season (throughout the month of December 2018) and there was a significant decline in giveaway frequency right after the holidays. Take advantage of the month of giving! You can keep the contest simple – give away a sample of your product or services, just in time for Christmas. Make sure to keep Instagram’s Promotion Guidelines in mind and follow the practical tips listed here for guidance.

Here are some recent festive Instagram contests from small businesses to check out for inspiration:

View this post on Instagram

CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY * NOW CLOSED * . I would love to spread a little Christmas cheer and give someone the chance to WIN one of my gorgeous Luxury 3 wick Fresh Fig candles. It would be perfect for the Christmas table centrepiece. It is also my way of saying thank you to everyone for all their support this year All you have to do is follow the rules . HOW TO ENTER . – FOLLOW @millieandgreen – ĹIKE this post and TAG a friend who would love to enter too. One entry per comment but you can enter as many times as you like – SHARE this post on your stories or feed and remember to tag @millieandgreen otherwise I won't see it UK ENTRY ONLY . The GIVEAWAY will run until Sunday 15th December at 9pm and the winner will be announced . Be sure to FOLLOW ALL THE RULES and good luck everyone . . . . Photo credit @millieandgreen #christmasgiveaway #christmascontest #christmasdecor #christmascheer #christmasgifts #christmas #giveaway #giveawaytime #candlegiveaway #competition #competitiontime #winme #win #winthis #win #ukgiveaway #candlegiveaway #interiorandhome #interiorlovers #candlelove #candlelovers #hyggechristmas #hyggetime #hygge #sharethelove #sparkleandshine #supportingsmallbusiness #millieandgreen #millieandgreenfreshfigcandle

A post shared by MILLIE & GREEN LUXURY CANDLES (@millieandgreen) on

  • Compile a Gift Guide – A staggering 62% of Americans buy their gifts the week before Christmas!* Create a holiday gift guide – or simply share a few last minute gift ideas – to inspire all the eleventh-hour shoppers out there. Include your own products or services if relevant! Some small biz inspiration:

View this post on Instagram

Christmas is approaching fast so I thought I’d share some last-minute gift ideas that are perfect if you want a special, not right-off-the-shelves gift but don't have time to hand-make something. I love giving (and getting) books, but to make them feel a little more custom and personal, I'll choose a great book and assemble a gift kit around it. I've gathered a few ideas on the blog (link in profile) a few cooking and craft books that I am loving right now! The first book is Craft the Rainbow: 40 Colorful Paper Projects by Brittany Watson Jepsen. Brittany needs no introduction, but in case you don’t know her, she is creator of the GORGEOUS blog @houselarsbuilt . This book is total eye candy, beautifully styled, shot, and designed, but also full of doable pretty projects that you’ll want to try. I’ve packaged this book with some craft supplies into a tote bag. Though I’ve created these gift kits around cooking and craft books, you could use this idea for ANY book and make it as big or small as you like! For a kid: Harold and the Purple Crayon with a box of crayons…or a novel with some food or a little souvenir from the book’s setting. You get the idea. Good luck with your last-minute shopping! (Somehow, mine is *always* last-minute shopping! 😬)🌲

A post shared by Jodi Levine (@supermakeit) on

  • Change Up Your Theme – Put your social media decorations up, so to speak. From now through Christmas, add some red, green & white to your feed to achieve a cohesive holiday look. People are more likely to interact with your brand’s content if it’s timely & matches the mood of the season.

No matter what holiday you’re creating content for – here’s to hoping it’s full of good times and great Instagram engagement!

Action Items:

  1. As you plan your holiday content, make sure to research relevant hashtags. Also be sure to schedule your posts for the best possible times for engagement.
  2. If you’re seeking content ideas, pick one of the three ideas mentioned in this blog and execute it!
  3. When you begin to see engagement on your content, make sure to engage in return! Answer comments, DMs etc.

*Statistic from: Fortunly


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